Knicks Bring In Stoudemire

By Justin Worsley

For once this offseason in the NBA, a person who's name doesn't start with the letter L or D has made the headlines.

The New York Knicks offered power forward Amar'e Stoudemire a five-year, $100 million contract on Independence Day, and the 27-year-old didn't make the Big Apple wait long as he announced on Monday that he agreed in principal to the deal. Stoudemire is unable to sign the contract until Thursday.

The move for New York is the first big change for a team in the NBA this offseason. Many of the big name free agents, including Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Pierce and Joe Johnson all stayed home, re-signing contracts with their former teams. The Knicks were expected to be one of the biggest shoppers this offseason after going 61-103 in the last two seasons. New York entered the free agent signing period with the most money under the salary cap, giving them the ability to not only sign one big free agent, but two.

Stoudemire, a five-time NBA All-Star, has spent his entire year in Phoenix, who selected him with the ninth-overall pick of the 2002 NBA Draft. Last season, however, rumors began circulating that Stoudemire would be traded, seeming to signify the end of his career as a Sun. Stoudemire was never traded, and help lead the Suns to the NBA Western Conference Finals. The 6-foot-10 player opted out of the final year of his contract.

The signing of Stoudemire can also help New York obtain another marquee free agent, including the much coveted LeBron James, who has stolen the spotlight since taking his jersey off after walking off the court in a season-ending loss to the Boston Celtics. The two-time NBA MVP has yet to announce his intentions for next season.

Stoudemire averaged 23.1 points and 8.9 rebounds last season in Phoenix. Since injuring his knee in 2005, Stoudemire has missed only 32 games including starting every game for Phoenix last season.